PHOTO: R. SHIVAJI RAO

FOR SAFE ENVIRONMENT: (From left to right): Sharwaree Gokhale, Maharashtra State Pollution Control Board Chairperson; Viswanath Shegaonkar, Tamil Nadu Environment and Forests Secretary; A.Raja, Union Minister for Environment and Forests; and K.A.Mathew, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board Chairman, at the conference in Chennai on Friday.

CHENNAI : All Government hospitals in the State will soon be brought into the biomedical waste treatment net and Tamil Nadu was on its way to total implementation of the scheme, K.A. Mathew, Chairman, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, said.

At present, nine biomedical waste treatment facilities were operational throughout the State and most private hospitals had subscribed to them. However, Government hospitals were yet to join in and this lacuna would soon be set right, he told reporters during the inauguration of Southern Regional Conference of State Pollution Control Boards and Committee on Friday.

Management of hazardous waste and biomedical waste were priority areas for all State PCBs. The Tamil Nadu Board had only given conditional consent to Chemplast Sanmar for setting up its PVC manufacturing facility in Cuddalore. Taking local opposition to the project into consideration, the Board had directed the company to set up its own desalination plant and also initiate a health surveillance project in the area. The Mahatma Gandhi Medical University, Pondicherry, would undertake the surveillance.

Most of the major industries in the State now had their own on-site landfills, , Mr. Mathew added. Earlier, inaugurating the conference, Union Minister for Environment and Forests, A.Raja, said the possibility of utilising common hazardous waste treatment storage and disposal facilities by neighbouring States was being explored.

Also, the implementation of the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules was far from satisfactory. Managing e-waste was also emerging as a major challenge and the need of the hour was evolving a suitable policy in this direction. The State Pollution Control Boards should chalk out a suitable action plan for effective implementation of environmental legislations for sustainable development of the nation, he added.

Most State PCBs were at crossroads and were confronted with many challenges ranging from climate change to specific local issues, Bhanujan, Chairman, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, said. Sustainable development, not just pollution control, was the need of the hour, Sharat Chandra, Chairman, Karnataka State PCB, said. The Maharashtra State PCB had hitherto been lopsided in its approach, targeting only industries and industrial development while, in reality, it was sewage that was polluting water resources, Sharwaree Gokhale, its Chairperson, said.

Viswanath Shegaonkar, Tamil Nadu Environment and Forests Secretary and B. Sengupta, Member Secretary, Central Pollution Control Board also participated.

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